April 9, 2024
We are thrilled to announce our semifinalists for Teacher of the Year! Please join us in congratulating the following teachers:
All FCPS TOY nominees receive special, personal recognition by the Superintendent and Board of Education. The Teacher of the Year receives a variety of prizes from the State and FCPS, including professional development opportunities throughout the year, recognition at a state-hosted banquet, and other prizes. The Teacher of the Year’s home school also receives special recognition throughout the year.
In our final FCPS Essential episode of the year, we are thrilled to introduce you to Patti McClain, our FCPS Systems Support and Data Quality Specialist. She helps manage our student information system. In FCPS, she also supported students at Gov. Thomas Johnson High and employees via our technology help desk.
Learn more about her in this Q and A.
Students and staff enjoy the solar eclipse at the Earth and Space Science Lab on April 8, 2024.
We are pleased to announce our next speaker in the 2023-24 Vanguard Speaker Series will be Dr. Sarah Sirgo. In addition to her work as FCPS Chief of Staff, Dr. Sirgo is a mother to two school-aged daughters and enjoys time with her husband and children, reading, sending out her daily Tweets of inspiration @Lead2Support, authoring a weekly leadership newsletter called Seeing It Through, and leadership Podcasts.
She will be presenting on April 16th, 4:30 pm - 6:00 pm, at Frederick High School. All FCPS staff are welcome to attend.
Effective July 1, 2024: FCPS is moving to a pay schedule called “pay in arrears” and as a benefited FCPS employee this will cause a disruption in your pay at the start of the 2024-25 school year.
Employees will continue to be paid twice a month, however, in order to implement the change an adjustment is being made to the first scheduled paycheck of SY 24/25. For 10-month employees this means that your first paycheck will be September 15. For 11-month employees your first paycheck will be August 31. And for 12-month employees your first paycheck will be on July 31.
Please use the links below for further details on how this will impact you and the options available to FCPS employees to mitigate the disruption.
General Information: https://www.fcps.org/payarrears
Information For 10-Month Employees
Information For 11-Month Employees
Information For 12-Month Employees
Email: FCPSPayShift@fcps.org
We are excited to share our latest Blueprint Unlocked podcast! This discussion focuses on Pillar 4, Supports for All Students.
FCPS Chief of Staff Dr. Sarah Sirgo is joined by FCPS Supervisor of Community Schools Dr. DeVeda Coley, Director of Curriculum, Instruction and Innovation Dr. Kathy Gull, and Student Services Director Dana Falls. The discussion focuses on progress made to support community schools, multi-lingual learners, and supports for student behavioral health.
The Blueprint for Maryland's Future was passed by the Maryland General Assembly in 2021 to transform public education in the state into a world-class education system.
All school systems in Maryland are engaged in a 10-year school transformation endeavor called “Blueprint for Maryland’s Future.” Our 10-year executive summary on this work may be found here.
On March 15, 2023, we submitted our Phase 1 implementation plan to cover the first two years of implementation. This year, we are submitting our Phase 2 implementation plan, which provides a look at the key pillars of the Blueprint for the next three years 2024-2027.
The Phase 2, Part 1 plan was submitted on March 15, 2024 and may be found here
The Phase 2, Part 2 plan will be submitted on May 1, 2024 and a draft is currently available for your review. You can view it online.
The focus of the Phase 2, Part 2 plan is to:
Examine the status of our current work
Identify areas of challenge
Describe our intended strategies for 2024-2027
We welcome your thoughts and reactions to our draft plan at BlueprintComments@fcps.org
Support Professionals who desire a “Voluntary Lateral Transfer” are required to submit a: Transfer Request Form to the Office of Human Resources Support Talent Acquisition and Relations, between March 1 and May 31 of each year to take effect the following school year. The transfer list will remain in effect for a period of one (1) school year or until exhausted.
More questions? We have complete directions online.
If you plan to retire within the next 6 months, please attend one of our upcoming retirement paperwork sessions. The purpose of these sessions is to complete and submit your retirement paperwork. A follow-up email will be sent to you once you register for the event and will include information about what to bring to the session. Sessions are limited, so please be mindful and only register if you will attend.
Upcoming Sessions:
Monday, April 15, 2024 (AM Session), 10:30 AM - 12:30 PM, Learning & Leadership Center
Monday, April 15, 2024 (PM Session), 2:30 - 4:30 PM, Learning & Leadership Center
Tuesday, May 14, 2024 (AM Session), 10 AM - 12 PM, Learning & Leadership Center
Tuesday, May 14, 2024 (PM Session), 2 - 4 PM, Learning & Leadership Center
Tuesday, June 11, 2024, 10 AM - 12 PM, Learning & Leadership Center
If you'd like to learn about your State retirement benefits, other retirement savings, estate and financial planning, Social Security benefits and other retirement considerations, you can go to the Maryland State Retirement and Pension System website to view upcoming sessions to attend. They also have a recorded presentation that you can watch at your convenience.
Log into your mySRPS account to view your pension estimate, Personal Statement of Benefits, and etc.
If you joined us at the FCPS Wellness Expo, you had the chance to paint a mini cherry blossom tree while you were there! Well, now all employees have the opportunity to continue with the cheery spring, cherry blossom theme! Join us at Sunday, April 21, at Hot Fired Arts, for a painting session for a 16x20 large canvas cherry blossom tree.
You can register online for the event now!
Class offerings include:
Monday: Yoga continues! (variations)
Tuesday/Thursday: Body Weight Boot Camp continues!
Wednesday: LaBlast (New dance offering!)
Tuesday/Thursday/Sunday: Desk-2-5K returns!
Classes started the week of March 18.
To register for classes please use the links below:
Vinyasa Flow Yoga
Body Weight Boot Camp
Desk to 5K
LaBlast Fitness
This month, the CareFirst You First monthly newsletter contains helpful tips to attain financial wellness. This is a great time to focus on achieving financial fitness.
The Voya Team will be at the FCPS at Central Office on Wednesday, April 10, from 10 am - 3pm, meeting with employees one-on-one!
Click Here To Schedule your appointment!
Can't Make the 10th? Click Here To Schedule An Appointment
Certified Financial Planner Jeff Wheeler from Frontier Financial Group/Security Benefit will visit the FCPS Central Office on the following dates for individual 403(b) and 457(b) enrollments/reviews by appointment only:
Thursday, April 18 from 10 am - 4 pm
Thursday, May 16 from 10 am - 4 pm
As a certified teacher, if you are considering pursuing an initial National Board Certification, seeking fee support, or simply interested in exploring the various options available to support you on your NBC journey, we invite you to attend our upcoming spring event to be held on:
Wednesday, May 15 from 4:30 pm - 6:30 pm
Learning & Leadership Center
44 W. Frederick Street
Walkersville, MD 21793
National Board Certification Spring Event Flyer
Registration is required through Unified Talent. The last day to register is May 1st.
More information is always available on our FCPS Professional Learning Website.
If you have questions, please contact Joe Hinson, Coordinator of Teacher Advancement at joseph.hinson@fcps.org.
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191 South East Street, Frederick, Maryland 21701